Method of the disposal of tailings.



"IVAN N. 110113.

METHOD OF THE DISPOSAL OF TAILINGS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 9, 1912.

Patented July 14,

" Be it' known that I, JOHN State of Colorado, have invented certaim the Disposal of Tailings, of which-the folnnrrnn STATES PATE orr es.

JOHN van Nos'mANn non u or n snvna, oonoaeno.

ETH D OF E mes es r mime To all whom it may concern: VAN Nosrnann Dona, a citizen of the United States, residing} in Denver, 'i'nfthe county of Denver an i new and useful Improvements in iMethods of i fromtheiplantand dumped, thus 'maki'n'g a damp with a flat surface, or are c'arrie upa'n inclineby belt 'conveyer's' and deposited bit a dump of increasing height. Whenw'ater is employed to convey the tailing'sfrom the mill, they are usually led: to -'a"'river'or -'runnlng, stream',"'when such I on certain ground, it'has beenthe practice; to construct dams in'various ways at the foot 4 (ifsl'op'es on the available ground and to-f. sluice the tailin downthe slopes into the;

dams.

water is drawn off.

a ru"rming stream cannot-foamy reason be used'and it is necessary to confine'the dump dains,'wherethey settle and the surplus This method of pro cedure requires the employmenvof considerable Jabor. Therefis' great wasteof water,

by evaporation and otherwise',fwhich might advantageously be used in the mill and there.. v

kept-free and the discharge-is moreumforms" The pipe connections are provided with suitable valves'and the density of the is dan'gr of damageiby therbreakingof the 1 My invention relates to'the-di'sposal (if tailings, conveyed in suspension in water' y from the mill, and 1t consists n first extracting asmuch water as possible, to be returned to the mill for reuse if desired, and then distributing the thickened taili'ngs in such manner as to form a dump, with its upper surface being extended out over the slope essentially horizontally, and the descending pulp building up the sloping surface similar to a dry dump. In this way the water will separate from the solid material, soaking into the dump or evaporating, and a pile or dump maybe formed without an excessive flow of water, requifing the construction of dams.

The apparatus which I preferably employ. comprises a decanter or thickener, which I Specification pt Letters Patent. Application med se z'embefa, 1am. Serial No. 719,464.

extracts some of the t a etwuir 'aem water from the tailings, and "a distributer, which is connectedwith the thickener and delivers the thickened taili'ngs'to the dump. The thickener may be of any'approved-pattern, manyapparatus 'of this kind being well known'to those skilled in the art oftreating' ore pulp for a similar purpose. The distributer is so constructed 'thatit will" de'liver the thickened but still 'tiuid =ta ilings insmallstreams or jets, contln'uously or intermittently as desired, over an'extendedsurface"from the edge ofthe I,

thickened pulp; after the thickener,-allows an accumulation 'of'thickp'ulp for' a 'given period, which maybe rapidly {discharged intothedls'tributer atintervals, and thus enable the more rapid flow of thick" material to' run down" the slope. The'distributenis so mounted and supportedt-hat it 'may be moved fromtime to time as'the dump is ex"- tended, and preferably it is madein 'sections, so that if necessary one section may remain idle to allow the s'urfaceof the dump to settleand'dry while another is in operation. While perforated launders or erforated stationary pipe's'can'be used for distributing the" pulp, they require a heavy inclination with thick pulp, and I have found that when the distributer comprises air-almost horizontallyhrranged perforated pipe, which is rotated during discharge, *bettenresul'ts" are obtained as the perforations are in this way are successively produced.

A mill is indicated at A and this delivers the tailings in water by a conveyer B to thickener C, where water is extracted and returned by a conductor D to the mill for reuse. The thickened pulp passes from the thickener or denatcrer by a pipe E to storage tank J, and thence by pipe E to the distributing apparatus. This is suitably constructed to deliver the tailings in relatively small streams or jets to the dump. Preferably the distributer is constructed as follows: It is divided into two or more sec-' ging up a portion of the perforations in the pipe from time to time, thus changing the flow over any given portion of the dump. Each pipe section is arranged to rotate about a horizontal axis in bearings g on said skids. Each pipe F is connected to a branch 0 from the pipe E, and each'branch is provided with a valve 0. A, motor H of any suitable kind, as an electric motor, is belted to each pipe section for the purpose of rotating it.

\Vhen the distributer is supported at the top of a slope in the manner shown in Fig. 1, the tailings are first conveyed from the mill to the thickener, the extracted Water being returned to the mill for reuse, while the thickened pul is conveyed by the pipe E to storage tan J and then by pipe E and branches 6 to the pipes]? through the perforations of which they pass and are delivered to the dump. During the operation the pipes arerotated by the motors in order to keep the perforations clear and to promote the flow of pulp from the receiving ends to the opposite ends thereof and from time to time, the skids and motors are moved forward to cause the depositof successive layers on the dump in the manner illustrated in Fig. 2. ln thisu'ay much of the Water from the mill is recovered and can be returned for reuse and the tailings freed from excess of water are deposited at any desired distance from the mill without the construction of dams or the contamination of streams.

I claim as my invention:

- 1. The methou of disposing of finely divided waste material suspended in liquid, which consists in thickening the material by separating it from part of the liquid in which it is suspended, conveying the thus thickened finely divided material to a dump, carrying the liquid to another receptacle, distributing the thickened material approximately horizontally along the edges of the dump to form an extended layer of uniform consistency on the slope thereof, and then forming repeatedly successive layers in like manner.

v 2. The method of disposing of finely divided waste material suspended in liquid, which consists in thickening the material by separating it from part of the liquid in which'it is suspended, regulating the amount of liquid thus separated to thus regulate the consistency of the thickened material, conveying the thus thickened finely divided material to a dump, distributing such material approximately horizontally alongvthe edge of the dump to form an extended layer of uniform consistency on the slope thereof and i.

then forming-repeatedly successive layers in like manner.

, In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name, 7

JOHN-VAN uosritann DORR. I Witnesses: I

CHARLES A. CHASE," PHILLIP M. McHUeH. 

